Popsicle Experiments: Part One

My next post was going to be my New York City race recap… not anymore! I got productive on the plane and wrote a post originally intended for next week.

There was a huge bin of popsicle molds by the registers at the drug store. Stores place cheap, enticing items near registers to encourage impulse purchases, and boy howdy, did I fall for it. I’ve never made popsicles before, but now I could… for the low, low price of TWO DOLLARS! Sold.

My first popsicles, which I made that night, weren’t very pretty. In fact, they were positively unappetizing.

POPSICLES – Attempt #1.

Ingredients: 1 frozen banana, 1 handful of fresh blueberries, 1 carrot, a small splash of milk. All blended in my awesome ninja blender and poured into the wells.

And how did it taste?

It was okay. A little too much carrot, not enough blueberries, a little gritty (so add more liquid to the mix next time?). Which leads me to:

What I Learned: Blend the carrot more. Or use carrot juice next time. Finding tiny chunks of carrot in a popsicle isn’t ideal. Also, I made way too much of the mix. I figured out afterward that each well holds 1/4 cup of liquid, so I only need 1 cup to fill all four wells.

I wanted to try using protein powder as a base, so I gave that a whirl for my second attempt. I used Bowflex Body French Vanilla Fitness Shake, which I thought would work great, because the powder is extremely fine, so when I make shakes, they’re super smooth and creamy (delicious, too).

POPSICLES – Attempt #2.

Ingredients: 1 scoop of Bowflex Body protein powder with 1 cup skim milk (shaken in a shaker, as opposed to a blender), plus one handful of blueberries, smashed with the back of a spoon in the bottom of a mug. I divided the blueberries between the wells, added the liquid, and gave them a stir.

Taste: Good! I loved the swirl of blueberries and vanilla. It was as smooth and creamy as I was hoping.

What I learned: Don’t smash blueberries any more. Those little buggers are mostly skin, and I didn’t care for the big frozen skin pieces. From now on, blueberries go in the blender before they go in the wells. Also, when I do use blueberries next time, I’m gonna use more than a handful.

Taste: Great! This totally reminded me of Jell-O Pudding Pops, which I used to love as a kid.

What I Learned: It’s really easy to make a chocolate popsicle, and thanks to the Fat Burner Boost, I can make one with extracts and ingredients that boost metabolism and promote fat burn. I’ll be making these again.

POPSICLES – Attempt #4.

Ingredients: 2 scoops of protein powder, shaken with 1 cup skim milk. This is the first time I used 2 scoops. 1 scoop has 15 grams of protein (or 3.75 grams per popsicle), so I was curious how it would taste with double the protein (7.5 grams per popsicle). Also, 6 strawberries, minced into tiny pieces, divided between the wells and stirred with the liquid.

Taste: Good, but I’m not sold on the 2 scoops. The vanilla was overwhelming. I’d either need to add more fruit next time, as it gets a little lost, or cut back on the powder.

What I Learned: The other problem with using 2 scoops of powder is that the liquid gets super thick, like a pudding, and it takes much longer to shake and is harder to pour into the wells.

POPSICLES – Attempt #5.

Ingredients: 1 scoop protein powder, shaken with 1 cup skim milk and 3 tablespoons PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter (an awesome and healthy product that I love). Bowflex makes a peanut-butter-flavored Boost packet, which I would’ve used, but I don’t have any right now.

Taste: Fantastic. I guessed on how much PB2 to use, and I guessed right – a good flavor, but not too rich.

What I Learned: This is another great popsicle recipe.

WHAT’S NEXT?

I’m going to go back and experiment with fruit-only recipes (or fruit-with-some-veggies recipes, to up the nutrients). My brother swears by a banana ice cream recipe he makes for his kids: frozen bananas, nut milk (like Almond Milk), and a dash of vanilla extract, so I would like to try that in popsicle form.

Do you have popsicle-making tricks and tips? Or recipes that you love? Share them in the comments section!

I’d say I already got my money’s worth out of those popsicle molds… and I love having a quick, low-fat, no-added-sugar, DIY option to satisfy my sweet tooth!

Keep it up, David!

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In A Nutshell

A big hello to everyone that’s discovering Keep It Up, David for the first time! I’m glad you’re here.

My name is David. I live in Los Angeles, and I’m 38 years old. In January 2010, I began eating better and exercising more, so I could lose weight. So far, so good – I’ve lost and kept off 160 pounds! But it’s a tough road, and I need to keeping finding new ways to keep motivated and on-track. I’ll blog about my progress and share my struggles and successes. Join me on my journey!